Neighbors
by xDooms Madnessx
Summary: After failed marriages, two people move to Manhattan in order to get away. Helping friends and teens didn't help when you're neighbors and find an attraction to someone in specific. I KNOW THIS IS A TERRIBLE DESCRIPTION, But I never really gave it much thought, so just bare with me. STORY IS ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**This was going to be a one-shot, but with as long as I made it I had decided to just split it up. So yeah, I'll be working on this for a while. my other stories will be uploaded in the mean time, I haven't gotten around to it and have lost ideas for most of my stories. But I'll manage. **

**Well, enjoy! :)**

* * *

It had been at least 17 years since Soul Had been divorced, and 15 since Maka had gotten Divorced.

* * *

Soul's ex-wife, Sofia, had cheated on him with the next door neighbors 19-year-old son, Devon, for 6 months during her pregnancy and 2 more before she had even gotten pregnant. And when Soul found out he packed up his and his 2 kids things and left. Although he was upset with her, he didn't feel very cool leaving her in the middle of her pregnancy. But would it even be his kid? For all he know she could have screwed both of them over.

After the divorce was filed, and he had made no content of actually talking to her again, he moved to over to Manhattan with the intention of getting as far away as possible. His kids, Colby and August, were against the idea of leaving their mother; even if they were just as devastated as their father. But they wanted to be there and see their new younger sibling. Soul wanted to be there for the child's birth too, but if it wasn't his child, he wouldn't want to be there to see the offspring. He would only see Devon's face, and be reminded how his wife wasn't as faithful as him.

3 months later, the child was born; and as he had expected, the kid wasn't his. Not that he was planing to go back to Sofia if her baby was his. He had given the woman more than one chance when they were only dating, and she didn't need any more. For all he could care, she can be re-married with the ass of a neighbor he once had. He had moved on from her and had gotten a new job giving better pay than his last, the kids had gotten comfy in their new school, and had new friends.

August and Colby were just fine, too. They no longer missed their mother as they once had, though. Once they had discovered that their mom had another mans child, that was it for them. Soul didn't plan on getting re-married, or even dating anyone. He was as done with women as he was with playing the piano.

Okay, he wasn't done with the piano, but he was done with women. Reason being; his son had asked his if he could teach him how to play piano since Colby was now 14; making Soul the painful age of 34. And as well as him giving the lessons, August had asked if she could take drum lessons. Assuming her father wasn't "That cool" to know how to play the drums. He had the money for it, and called up the best sounding drummer he could find online.

A pleasant surprise when it turned out that drummer was his old buddy, Black*Star. They had caught up, 'Star was still with Tsubaki and had, had twins girls; Summer and Winter (named by Tsubaki) and a son, Red*Star (named by Black*Star). Him and his family lived only a couple blocks away, too. Summer and Winter became best friends with August, them all being the same age, 13, and having amazingly similar interest. Colby and Red*Star would hang out, even if 'Red was just 12, and Colby 2 years older than him, they became pretty good friends.

He was pretty much happy with how he was living, and wouldn't want to take the chances of another woman changing it. He had his family; he wanted to keep it that way.

* * *

"Dad! Colby keeps taking my phone!"

"No I don't! Stop L-lying! Hahaha!"

Soul sighed as he listened to his two children fight. They had done this countless times. Colby takes something of August's, August get's angry at him, World War 3 breaks out, and Soul looses more days off of his life span. But, this was just how their family showed each other how they loved one another. So the aging Soul got up from his chair at his desk and started down the sandy colored carpeting on the staircase of his 2 story house, away from the noise of his fighting kids. His house wasn't big; but it wasn't small either Nothing close to a mansion, but nothing close to the average home. The rooms were big, there was a lot of space, it was warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Had a nice back yard with a pool, a garage.

They weren't super rich, but had a maid because of no one being home often. Soul worked Day and Night, except for weekends; much to his joy. And Colby and August go to school and don't get home until 4, due to school clubs and friends, then come home and pig out on whatever happens to be in the fridge. Soul only eats and egg in the morning, accompanied by a cup of black coffee, and comes home in the after noon, eats a cow, and falls asleep on the couch, leaving a huge mess for the maid to clean up.

Usually, he isn't disturbed during his naps, but this particular Wednesday the school had to let out early because someone had let loose all the frogs all over the school. And they had to catch all of the frogs and clean and sanitize the school.

So now, Colby and August were home, and fighting, about August's phone.

Typical.

"DAD! MAKE HIM STOP!" She screamed.

"NO! I'm not even doing anything!"

At this point they raced down stairs and were chasing each other around their fathers space. He sighed and turned on the TV. He wasn't going to do anything about it, for he was too lazy and tired out from a nights work, even if they had let him go home early that day. He turned the volume up a little and went to On Demand then began watching episodes from the last season of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. It was a particularly louder episode, seeing as the show is mostly dulled silence due to some quiet ass audio.

"Come on, Colby! Give it back! DAD!"

Volume now at 74.

"No! I'm not doing anything! I told you to stop lying August!" Colby's laughing was easily audible. And almost as loud as the zombies and screaming going on in the television. They continued on like this for a while; them screaming, Soul turning up the volume. Once he realized he had a head ache and the TV was on full blast; he just gave up.

Turning down the volume, he sighed and turned around to look at his children. They were wrestling for August's green covered phone. Both of his children had hair like their mother's, an ashy orange color. August's being in a style that flips over her left eye and is layered, Colby's being a bit more natural and pointy, like his dad's but pointed down, not up. Colby had pointy teeth like him, and eyes like his mothers as well, a bright sky blue. August eyes are red like her fathers and her teeth were only the slightest bit sharp on the tips. Some could mistake them for twins if they looked close enough. Both of them having small, pointy noses, and their head shapes were both round, and small. Even if they had different personalities and fought a lot, they were practically best friends.

And when someone says they are nothing alike, their right.

Colby, in his father's words, can be a total ass sometimes. Especially to his sister. He would always steal her stuff, take things out of her bathroom, and hide the clothes she had set out on her bed for after she was done taking a shower, causing her to get completely pissed of at him a through one of her boots at him... Yes, Soul's son is indeed, a total, and complete, ass. Not to mention he doesn't do homework until the last minute, and he'll mouth off all the time just for the soul reason of pissing people off. But, he was hard to hate. No one could truly be pissed off at him, it was just to hard. Maybe it was his killer looks he got from his dad, and soft features he acquired from his mother, no one really cared.

Despite him being an ass, he was a helper, and had good intentions. Sometimes he would help the maid do dishes or laundry. He'd do his sister's hair for her sometimes because he knows she gets frustrated when it wont flip the right way. And Colby would do lawn work for his father because he knows how often his dad is exhausted with work and dealing with some things that just really don't need to be said to understand. Like dealing with his sister while she's on her period.

He'd buy her a crap load of candy and chocolates, he'd pick out her cloths for her (because apparently, everything article of clothing she owns is absolutely _disgusting _when she's trying to pick out her outfit for school.) He'd also rent her some sappy ass movie and a box of tissues.

Colby was just one good fucking guy. No madder how much of a shitty mood he puts you in, he's just that kind of guy that you couldn't hate if you tried.

Though his sister, was a bit more stubborn than him.

She wasn't an ass like her brother, nor was she a... sweetie... Either. But she has her own ways of being kind. It's kinda unspoken love with the girl. She had good intentions, like her brother, but never manages to word them correctly. When she's being 'helpful' she usually just gives a half-assed effort.

When she's weeding the garden for the maid, she only picks out what she _knows_ is a weed. Yea, it's not a full job, but it makes things easier. She'd return the favor to her brother by choosing _his _cloths. She'd bring some dished out of where ever they were and would toss them in the sink, creating a huge pile; but at least they were all in one spot, no scavenging around the house for misplaced dishes with half eaten foods on them.

Sometimes, she'd even make a pot of coffee for her father an hour early before he gets up for work, but leaves it out to get cold, causing him to heat it up for a minute and thirty seconds. But she just made the job easier.

And like every teenage girl, she had _a lot _of... 'Anger' issues when she couldn't decide on her outfit. But, that's why Colby helps her out. Doing them all a favor and sparing everyone in the household head aches.

And like all good siblings, they fought. About _everything._ Whether it was a big deal or a small, they would find a way to make it a _huge_ deal.

Like August's phone. She never uses it, and there was practically nothing but some music on it, she just simply didn't want her brother to lay a finger on any of her stuff. Same goes for Colby, he absolutely hated it when his sister even _looked _at one of his computer games.

And here they are, wrestling like wild animals on the living room floor. Over a phone.

August was reaching out for her brother's arm, while Colby was holding her phone out of reach. Standing on his tippy-toes, his sister pushed him against the wall while she clawed at her older brothers arm that was holding her temporary item of interest. Colby was laughing his ass off, and August was whimpering over how much taller her brother was than her. Soul sighed deeply and walked calmly over to his children, he then reached up and slipped the phone from his son's grasp, and tucked it in his back pocket, then walked back over the couch and sat down, once more turning up the volume and began to watch the images on the screen.

Leaving his children confused of what to do next.

* * *

Maka's ex husband, Marcus, had been abusive, not with his fist, but he always picked a fight. And he had been a total jack-ass. Just like her father, he went out and cheated on her, and hide it from her. She knew better, from all the lies she had studied off of her father, she knew how to recognize one. All of those late nights at work, leaving the house before she woke up, telling her he 'wasn't in the mood' when she was trying to be romantic with him. And of course she had told her friends about her observations. She knew it had gone on for some time now, and she didn't want to deal with it anymore.

So she had said she was taking their kids, Marine and Tait, up to her friend Liz's house to spend some time with her and her son, Avery, and new-born daughter, Gabby. Telling him she would be there for a while and he could come with if he wanted. He said no, saying he didn't know Kid to well and wouldn't know what to talk to him about. And she did take the kids to Liz and Kid's, them only living a few blocks away, she walked back after a few hours and went in through the back door.

She found him in their bed with a woman who worked for her office. She could have thrown everything she could reach at both, but she didn't. She just simply walked past them to her closet, got out her suit cases and packed up her cloths. He started to try to reason with her, telling her she didn't need to leave and it was all a mistake. The woman had left, after Maka had called Liz to tell her to bring the kids back so they could pack, and her friend had kindly 'escorted' her out with the parting words of "Go away bitch, and never come back!" and the throwing of the women's bra and thong after her.

Marine being younger than his sister by tree years, age 10, he didn't know what was happening. He couldn't understand why his mother was crying, his dad was being told to stay away from her, or why he had to pack up his things. It was up to Tait to help him. She explained why Mama and Papa were angry with each other.

_"You know how Mama and Papa hug with their faces sometimes?"_

_"Yes? Why, is Papa not giving Mama anymore face hugs?"_

_"Sort of kiddo, Papa has been giving face hugs to another girl. Mama is upset because she's supposed to be the only girl Papa face hugs."__  
_

Even if it sounded childish, that was the only way Tait could have explained it to her brother. Even with him being 10, he still acted as if he were 7 and didn't quite understand things like he should.

And after Liz had gotten Marcus out of the house, and well on his way after the argument had subsided, he was pissed. He said that Maka would forgive him like she did before and come right back to him, so that they can be a 'family' again. So because they had still packed up all of their things, they had waited to see if he came back. He was gone for three hours before he returned home, drunk, and angry. He came in the house, demanding he be forgiven or 'it wasn't going to be pretty'. He had tried countless time to get Tait to hug him, say she forgave him for how he had cheated on Mama, tell him she was still 'daddy's little girl'. Maka's daughter, being as smart as her mother, pushed him away and screamed at him until he got the message. Maka just got everyone in the car and she drove back over to Liz and Kid's place. They had stayed there, because Maka wasn't ready to face him, or see if he actually stayed in town.

But a year or so later, she had gone back to the house to see if he had stayed there. He did, and Maka only intended on talking to him, trying to see if there was any reason of him wanting to be with another woman. Of course, he made up a lie and apologized; then, with regret, Maka had gotten back together with him for a week or so, and had actually hooked up again, and in the news he had actually gotten her pregnant again, he banished. Leaving Maka to weep with her friends ready to kill the bastard. She had once again moved back into Liz's house, feeling guilty she was going to be a burden on them, now that she had to feed more than just herself and 2 current children.

About a month into her new pregnancy, she had called up her friend Tsubaki, knowing she lived in Manhattan, Maka wanted to know if there was any houses for sale. The kids are exited with the thought of being away from their father, and going to a different place sounded nice for a new baby sibling.

So in another month or so, she and the kids moved up and met Tsubaki and Black*Star at the air-port. Maka had purchased the home she had looked at, and with the help of her father, all expenses were paid. Maka has her family, and was done with Men, too many negative experiences and she was convinced, every guy was the same. Accept for Kid and Black*Star, she knows them to well. She doesn't need a man to complete her life, even if it is a man who helped her get such amazing kids, and one new addition. She has her family now; she intends on not letting anything ruin it.

* * *

"YO, MAKA! WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE YOUR GOD AGAIN?!"

"Black*Star! Don't be so loud!"

"Oh, right Tsubaki, sorry."

"Mama, who's the loud man?"

"That's black*Star, honey. And Tsubaki is his wife."

"I'M YOUR ALL MIGHTY UNCLE!"

"Black*Star!"

"Sorry..."

And this was how it was when they got off the plane. After they had boarded, Tait had run to the bathroom, throwing up because she has a terrible fright of flying. She told her mom she would be fine, and would like to puke in peace. Marine wanted to stay by Mama, he was afraid of all the strangers being around him. Black*Star wasn't helping with all the yelling he was doing. Maka had to throw up herself, but because of amazing gag reflexes, she'd be able to hold off for a while.

"So, when are we going to head back to the house? It's getting dark out, and I don't want to be stuck in traffic." Black*Star stretched out his arms.

"Yes, we should get going soon, or we wont get on the road before rush our starts, and I'm sure Maka would like to rest for a bit, right?"

"We'll leave as soon as Tait get's out of the bathroom. And Tsubaki, I'm fine, okay?"

Maka was exhausted from the flight here, and had a migraine from the ringing in her ears, her stomach was churning and her belly hurt. All she wanted to do was get to Tsubaki's house, sleep, and wait for her furniture to arrive. She had taken everything from the house and had it scheduled to arrive a day after she had gotten of the plane. Her comfy mattress was just calling to her, all the way on the truck, she could hear it.

But of course, after she would wake up at her host's house, she would have to go looking for a new job. And she didn't like the idea, it had taken her at least a year to find the job she had once had as a concierge back in her old home, Death city. Plus she would have to go shopping for new cloths and baby stuff. She was going to have to be ready, and she needed to think of names. But all she wanted to do at this point was sleep. Fall into a never-ending coma if that's what she had to do to get some rest.

Now she was 3 months into her pregnancy already, and was happy to be able to let this child have a newer start. Yes, having another child means she's defiantly gotten older. At age 32 she wouldn't have thought about another child, and would be damned if she had a 4th after this one. She was happy of course, bringing a new life into the world was wonderful, even if the process might leave her a little insane and sore, she's definitely happy to be able to have another kid.

"Okay mom, I'm good now."

"GOOD! BECAUSE YOUR MIGHTY UNCLE WAS GETTING TIERED OF WAITING F-"

"BLACK*STAR."

"Sorry Tsubaki..."

"Mama! Uncle Black*Star is hurting my ears!"

"Don't worry sweetie, he's hurting mine, too..."

"Maka, I'm so sorry, let's all just get home, shall we?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda hungry. Can we stop at the gas station and get a muffin?"

"MUFFINS! YOU GODLY UNCLE APPROVES! OUCH! HEY MAKA! IT'S NOT NICE TO THROUGH BOOKS!"

"Then shut the hell up before I throw up on you!"

"Mama! You said a bad word! Give me a quarter!"

"Let's just get in the damned car, please!"

"Sissy! Not you, too! Both of you give me a quarter!"

* * *

And now, after a long drive home, Maka was finally changed into a pair of comfortable grey sweat pants, and a green long-sleeved nit sweater with a black tank top underneath. She was sitting on the couch, looking at her kids who were passed out in sleeping bags.

Tait had her mother's ashen blond hair, but was a bit more brown from her father, done in a choppy style with bangs that cupped her face in a sharp style, coming to her just below her shoulders, she had her dad's deep black eyes, even if they sometimes shinned white with enthusiasm. Her head was more like her mother's long but round at the same time, she had a small nose and stuck out on her features perfectly. Her mother's long legs and curves, but her father's poor posture and small torso. She was a beautiful young woman, and was tall a slim.

Her brother had soft features and eyes like her mom, green and vibrant. Same nose as her sister, and blond hair that fell on his small head in a shaggy style. His head was a little more round and small like his father's. He didn't have his mother's legs, his torso was longer, making up most of his height. He had a better posture, and didn't slouch. He was definitely a cute little boy, and his Mama took pride in such lovely young kids.

They had some interesting personalities, and didn't act very much alike, and them looking so different from each other it was hard to tell them as siblings.

Starting off, Tait was a little aggressive when it came to certain things, she had a short temper and was stubborn. Taking after her Mama, she was smart, but she didn't use her knowledge as her mother did. Sure, she did her home work, and got mostly A's and B's, she just didn't try as hard, she answered mostly only things she knew for sure and just guessed on everything else. Using this skill regularly, she managed to talk her younger brother into thinking wild things that only half of it made sense.

She didn't help much with her mother, but when she did she gave a full job. And usually she would make a mess, then only clean up half of it at one point, then she would make her little brother help her. She hated work and would constantly try to get out of it, occasionally skipping school with friends had earned her plenty of detentions, but because she always made up the work the school just started not giving a shit whether she showed up. She would get other people to do her homework, then corrected the paper before she handed it in.

She wasn't exactly the sweetest strawberry in the patch, picking fights with kids at her school constantly, and mouthing off to teachers when she did attend school, and ignoring her mothers orders by plugging in her head phones. She was hard to communicate with and didn't talk to people about her problems, she doesn't put much trust in people. And she has... a very interesting humor. Not exactly appropriate.

Even with her being quite about her personal problems, sometimes being dramatic sometimes, then shy other times; Tait was still the bubbliest person Maka knew, aside from Liz's sister, Patty. She knew how to lighten a crowd and keep things alive. She didn't like it when others felt upset or insecure, making them feel happy by joking with them, or even making herself look like an idiot. She would practically force the sadness out of people until they started opening up. The girl would make people feel welcome and at home when they were with her, letting them know they could put full trust into her with their problems and secrets. She was always a happy person and could get things said quickly and to the point. But she wouldn't let herself have more than a few friends. She was spunky and popping.

And nothing like her brother.

Marine was a bit more quite and sensitive. He acted as if he were younger than he actually is, and overacts to situations a bit more drastically than he should. He will be confident and out going when he wants to, but most of the time that's only when with family. He doesn't do much work because he complains that he was 'hurt' oh so terribly, when all it really is, is that he hit his hand, as lightly as he possibly could have, and acted as if he had just gotten stabbed. He was a funny and charming boy, but had a very raw and dry sense of humor. He thought things that were really not funny were the most hilarious things on the universe. His laughing would constantly sound forced, as if he were trying to make it a huge deal that something really small was happening.

He liked to egg everything on. Like a small little sneeze would be turned into the flu. Not very fun, but, that's just Marine.

Maka and her children had a complicated way of communicating, but it was how they worked.

* * *

When Maka was walking, or waddling, with Black*Star, Tsubaki, Winter and Summer, plus her own kids, up to her front door, Black*Star took the liberty of being loud again. He had shouted just random and unrelated things out about him being a God, or a bunny scampering past them while they walked along the grass.

"HEY! THIS IS THE HOUSE NEXT TO SOUL'S TSUBAKI!" He shouted in the direction of the neighboring household. He was all to exited when tree people walked out of the front door. Two were what looked to be teens with an orange color laying atop of their head, the other was a Man who looked to be the around the same age of  
Maka and her friends.

"Black*Star! First, stop screaming! You're going to give Maka a migraine, second, yes, I was fully aware that this house was next to Soul's." Tsubaki answered her loud husband. The man who, Maka assumed, was Soul, looked over at the group of people who were gathered on the lot next to him.

"Hey Black*Star, what's going on? You moving in there or something?" He asked, since the houses weren't spaced very far apart, it was easy to hear him. He glanced over at the group standing more than a few feet away from him and the two teens by his side, who of which were looking each over the two new faces. Summer and Winter went over and started talking to them, while Soul came over to talk to Black*Star and the new neighbor her now suddenly had.

"Naw man, this is my ol' friend Maka, I'm helping her and her kids move since, as you can see, she's got some extra baggage." He said, gesturing to Maka's enlarging stomach. Maka and Tsubaki sweat dropped, while Soul looked over Maka. She seemed to be about the same age as him, maybe a year or so younger. He wouldn't expect someone of their 30's having anymore children, after already having 2.

"Hi, I'm Maka. I take it you're Soul." She said, extending her right hand while the other felt around her stomach.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." He shook her outstretched hand, then looked over to the two new kids as they had now walked their way over to talk to the other group of teens. "So, those your kids?" He nodded to them as they walked past him.

Maka looked over to the group while they talked. Tait seemed to like talking to the girl with orange hair, as well as Summer and Winter introduced everyone. "Yeah, the girl is Tait, and the younger boy is Marine." She stated. Black*Star and Tsubaki had went inside to check on the layout, and started to think about what room would be whose, saving Maka some time on arrangement's.

"Marine? That's an interesting name, don't ya think?" He raised an eye brow at this. He had never met someone named Marine, a Marine was supposed to be someone who served in the U.S Marine Corps, not the name of a child.

Maka's faced reddens a bit, seeing as she wasn't the one who had chosen her son's name, she felt silly for him having the name of someone who worked to serve the nation. But that was honorable right? Being named after a group of people who protected the country's freedom. It was a reasonable name, right? Marine didn't sound so weird.

"W-well, yea, it is a bit odd, to name your son Marine, but," she paused to think of how she would name Marcus she had yet to get the divorce papers filed, and they were still legally married, but she had decided to ed it with him, so doesn't that count? "M-my ex husband named him, so that's his name."

"Ex husband? What happened?" He asked a bit curiously. Sure it was non of his business and he wasn't so eager to know, was she comfortable with telling him? Was it big and important, personal? Scaring? "I-If it's okay for me to know. Y-you don't have to tell me."

"Oh no, it's fine, not like it matters." Maka sighed. What would it matter if he knew? "He cheated on me for a while and lied about it. I stayed at a friends for a while with the kids, made the mistake of getting back together with him, and then he just left. So I moved up here."

"And I take it he's the father, right?" Soul assumed.

"Yeah. I'm happy and all, but I hate the fact that I'm only having this child because he ruined the family." Maka frowned, rubbing her belly continuously. Yea, Maka was happy to have another child, but the reason she's having the kid was upsetting.

"Well, then he made a mistake. You seem like a nice girl, I don't know see why anyone would cheat on some one like you." Soul actually didn't know if what he said was making sense. He doesn't know her to well, so he wasn't sure what 'someone like you' would mean.

"Thanks, but, I'm curious," the Ash blond girl admitted. She had wondered this since she had seen them. "How come your kids look nothing like you?"

"Oh, uh." Soul scratched the back of his neck. "Well, they look more like their mother. But do at least some-what have qualities from me. Their teeth, and August's eyes." he said. Showing his pointy teeth and red eyes.

"Oh, hey, that's pretty cool..." She trailed off, still rubbing her belly, but was also keeping her eyes entranced on the white-haired man's mouth. Then she fixed up to his eyes and stared at them for a minute, before she looked to the girl with the choppy styled orange hair, and back to the man in front of her. "And I'll guess that she's August?" Pointing at the teen girl once more.

Soul turned to look for a while, smiling to himself, he turned back to the pregnant woman in front of him before talking. "Yeah, and the older one is Colby, they're a year apart from each other."

"Oh, well, where is their mother? I don't see her." She peered back to the home next to her new one. It was possible that they no longer had a mother, she could have died or, or... Maka didn't know, but it may have been rude for her to ask so abruptly.

"Oh, yeah, I divorced their mom. She was cheating on me with a 19-year-old. It kinda sucks, she was pregnant when I left her." He shrugged. Okay, so, not a big deal? Guess not. "But the kid wasn't even mine."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. That must have sucked..." She looked down. She thought about the idea of her (ex) husband getting the woman he had his affair with pregnant. What would have happened? Would she be even more devastated? What would the kids have thought?

"Yea, but hey, we were both cheated on. So we both know the feeling, right?" He just started at her, as if waiting for her reaction in his words. "May as well move on now, you've got something else to worry about, don't you?" He pointed down to her stomach.

"Yes, and speaking of which, Maka should be getting inside now, she needs to rest." Tsubaki said, appearing almost as if by magic from behind Maka. "Maka, we got the layout set up, all we need to do is wait for the furniture to get here."

"Okay," she she smiled back to Tsubaki, and smiled to Soul. "Bye, I'll see you later."

"Bye, nice meeting you." He waved as he walked back over the his kids, sending Tait and Marine over.

* * *

**I'm pretty satisfied with this. I did good job :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Beep Boop.**

** Heres the next part of this new story! I think I'll get things outa the way, first, I was asked why Marine had to refer to kissing as 'face-hugs' I based him off of my little brother, and he's childish and doesn't quite understand the terms for 'romance' and all that, I'll change it if people think I should, but for now I just had to let you guys know that Marine is supposed to be kinda baby-ish and uncomfortable with those kinds of things. That's basically saying he does know what kissing is, he just doesn't like to say the word itself. So yea. There you have it.**

**R&R**

* * *

"Okay, so we want the couch to go where?" Maka asked as she and Tsubaki paced around the living room, checking the spaces that they had to sort out for the furniture.

"Hmmm... Here maybe?" Tsubaki suggested, motioning the a spot in the corner near the window. Maka nodded slightly, liking the idea. The large window made the room feel spacious, even if there were to be a large couch placed in front of it, the living area would still feel open. And it had a fantastic view of the small nature preserve and park before lying just beyond her property. But she wouldn't be able to decide until one, or both, of the trucks arrived to see if her couch would actually fit in the first place.

The furniture had to be split up into two separate trucks, because the ones they had to get transferred to where too small. Tait and Marine were upstairs, talking about the rooms, and probably fighting about which one will be theirs. And as if on cue, the sound of Tait's raising voice was heard. Then Marines softer voice, going as high as it could, following after. They would fight over the stupidest things sometimes.

When they were younger, about when Tait was 8, she argued about who would sleep on the top bunk on the bed they had when they used Tait's current room, at the old house, for an office. She liked to be on the top bunk because she was afraid of the monsters that could get her when she was on the bottom bunk. Marine started getting scared too, and wanted to sleep with his sister on the top buck. Of course, Tait wouldn't oblige to that, she was selfish then, and didn't like to share with her little brother. But after about a month of fighting and keeping their parents up, Maka just started letting Marine sleep in between her and Marcus. Sure, it made her ex angry, because then he couldn't '_do _anything' . But he got aver it.

Then Tait came stomping down the stairs, because despite her brother being so young and childish, he was one smart little boy, and liked to poke holes in his sister's logic. She had obviously lost the battle with her brother.

"Mom... Have you decided who get's which room? And when you do," she grimaced at the staircase, "can you tell Marine THAT I'M GETTING THE ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS!" She screamed, sending a message to her brother who was probably sitting at the top of the staircase already listening.

"Tait, sweetie, as much as I'm sure your mother loves you, I think you just gave her another head ache." Tsubaki stated almost in a sweat-n-sour sort of tone. And Maka did actually have a head ache, but not from the hollering on her daughter, it was the screeching of tires coming from outside. She clenched her eyes shut and waited until the seemingly never-ending halt of metal found its stop.

Then, bursting from the new wooden doors, came Black*Star. "HEY MAKA, THE FURNITURE'S HERE!" Black*Star had been outside talking to Soul. He had come back after a while, stating that Colby and August were being a pain in the ass. Having offered to help bring in furniture, he had waited for the trucks to arrive as well. Maka went outside, Tait and Marine following after, making sure that they'd have something for the race to the room of their want, and had something to claim it as well. Once the over sized car parked at the curb of the road and the driver had stepped out to open the back up and soon began to let down a ramp coming from the back of the vehicle.

The back of the truck had been over loaded with what seemed like a never-ending pile of boxes and furniture, and the splitting up of the goods had obviously not done much. This was when Maka realized she had a lot of household items. More than she thought she did. And if there was this much in the first truck, how much was in the second truck? Did she really own that much at her old house, back in Death City? Was it even possible? Everyone set out to barter between the boxes, picking and grabbing, then trading for something lighter or heavier. Marine and Tait had already gotten their box and started the victory run to whatever bedroom it was they were fighting over.

Maka went to pick up a box of her mother's old china dishes, may as well make herself useful, right? She would have made it to the door, if she didn't get stopped halfway. She looked to her roadblock, and found Soul, staring down on her with gleaming red eyes.

"What are you doing?" Was all he asked and he continued to look at her, studying her as she attempted to carry the box of old china to her kitchen. Maka just stood there, dumbstruck and not knowing what the problem was.

"I'm carrying dishes? What else would I be doing now?" She raised her eye brow. This was all to confusing, even if she was smart. Wasn't it obvious that she was caring dishes? Even if the box wasn't labeled, and it is, he should be able to tell that she was carrying something. He just continued staring down at her, like a hawk.

"Give me your boxes."

Maka stared at him. Noting that he already had 2 boxes already, barely balancing on his forearms. One labeled 'Silverware', and the other 'Books'. Those were both probably very heavy already. She knew she had a lot of books, and there was no telling how many were in that box, if she had as much furniture as she thought she did there was no telling how much silver ware she had, the box with said contents was pretty big so it could probably hold a lot of tabel utensil.

"But you already have-" She started. First he demands that she hand over her china to him, and then cuts her off.

"Just give me the boxes. You shouldn't strain yourself." the white-haired father refashioned his earlier demand. And shouldn't strain herself? How could she do that by just carrying a box of old china? After showing no arbitrate, he sighed and set down the box of silver ware, then took the box from her hands, and put the silver ware on top of the box that held books.

"What? No, why did you-" She protested. Finally understanding why he took the box and told her she shouldn't strain herself. "I can carry a box, Soul, I'm not useless because I'm pregnant."

She walked next to him as they went up the path to her front door. He only glanced at her, and continued to stride up the steps. Stopping at the door waiting, and not moving. Maka stayed in place just the same. She was all to confused, why had he stopped? Oh... He had waited for her to enter first.

Embarrassed, she walked through the door as he followed after. Her feet skimming the azure carpeting, walking so fast because she felt stupid not knowing he was being a gentleman and was waiting for her to walk in first. How had she not understood that? Why hadn't he just walked in first and spared her the chagrin? Yes, he had shown to her that he was in fact a polished man, and had been very kind, but he didn't need to carry an extra box for her, or offer to help her unload the movables into her house.

Entering the kitchen with yellow walls, a checkered back splash; the tile floor lavished with black and grey swirls. The counters hugged to the was, granite topping fitting perfectly against the corner. A light crayon blue looking oven and a charcoal grey fridge placed on opposite ends, a silver sink in between. There was an island with the same counter tops.

Soul set down the boxes and turned to her. "I just didn't want you to strain yourself. It's not cool to let a pregnant woman carry anymore baggage than she already has to, okay?" His eyes were kind and benignant, causing her to lighten up from thinking as herself as useless because of her pregnancy. He had just been helping. She could tell that it would be good to accept help for her cause. She had been feeling stressed recently and this was helping.

All throughout the rest of the day, the last of the boxes have been brought in and un packed before the furniture was welcomed into their abode. Tait had gotten all of her belongings lined up on the wall of the room she had won. Marine had settled for the room next to his mothers. It was a little smaller, but he decided it fit him perfectly.

Maka's room was the largest of the bedrooms, but wasn't much bigger than Tait's. It had its own bathroom and a walk in closet. The floor was a light leafy green carpet, and walls dressed with an apricot color. A bay window in the middle of the wall facing outside, holding small boxes of either books or old post cards from her Mama and relatives.

While they had started unloading the furnishing, nobody let Maka lift a finger. The other teens had come over to help, Summer, Winter, and August helped their dads bring stuff into Tait's room. As they brought her bed up, it being as narrow as it was, she layed on it the entire trip. Making jokes about how she felt like a regent. Being carried away by her servants in a sedan chair. The other girls laughed, agreeing. Wishing that they could pretend that they were being carried off to some royal event.

Colby and Red*Star assisted Tsubaki as she carried Marines slightly smaller bed. He had demanded to have a bed like his Mama's, but when he slept in a large bed all by himself he was terrified. So instead, he asked for a smaller one so he could be safe and pretend he was going to be little forever. Tait had started teasing him about acting his age, and not like a second grader, seeing as he was in 5th grade now.

Then, of course, Marine had teased her back about seeing afraid of Sesame Street. And it was true, Tait was brutally terrified of talking monsters. Even if she knew they were puppets, they just scared her.

Maka had attempted various times to bring up at least on thing to her room; like her bedside lamp, a few picture frames of her family, and even a book. No madder how small or easy to carry item it was, she had never made it even halfway up the stair case. It was either Soul, or Black*Star, or Tsubaki who had taken them from her. It went on for an hour before she Maka began to suspect it was amusing for them.

So, when they had gone out to get the last few boxes, she had grabbed a box with her books, and went up the stairs, she was careful as to not hurt the child. And making it to the top of the steps felt victorious Smiling to herself, Maka walked into her room and got one of her first good looks at it. Instead of paying attention to its color, she just walked around. Stoking the walls and planned out how she was going to decorate.

If she wasn't allowed to carry a few boxes, would she be able to unpack by herself? Or hang things up? Maka knew she was at least going to need help with hammering the nails in for her picture frames, and paintings. It was possible she could ask Soul or Black*Star, Tait could help her as well. It was only that Maka didn't want to make them work any harder than they already had for her. So she picked up one of the frames and placed it on the wall, testing out various spots it could sit in.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Maka cursed under her breath, could she not get a single moment to herself, or do something without being questioned?

"I'm looking at my picture frames. Something wrong with that?" She sighed, and turned her head to face Soul. He had been on her case all day, and she had only met him about 7 hours ago. She was grateful for the help, but it was a bit over kill.

"Yes, because I'm not going to let you-"

"Hang them myself? I know."

"Well, a bit angry now are we?" Soul joked, raising an eye brow. Maka relaxed, flying off her handle wasn't going to get her anywhere. Even if she was irritated she wasn't going to take it out on everyone else. She just closed her eyes and counted, to herself, up to ten to ease her anger. Cursing after every digit she said so that she wouldn't say then to anyone in reality. "Here, I'll hammer in the nails, if you want me to."

She sighed and looked back to Soul. "Yea. Of course."

* * *

(4 weeks later, Maka's fourth month of pregnancy.)

"Hey mom, when is your next Doctor's appointment?" Tait slumped into the kitchen, groggy from the morning and yawing. Her mother had been at the stove, cooking breakfast, or trying to since her stomach had gotten bigger. The kids had been enrolled at the local public school, Manhattan Public High school for Tait such a creative name.

"I have one today at 6:00, I think." she said, taking a piece of toast she had made, out of the toaster. Tait when over and helped her mom with the stove, which has eggs on it that look like they're about to burn.

"Oh, okay...," flipping the egg and putting it on a plate, then turning off the stove. Marine wouldn't eat eggs and preferred cereal so she knew that there wouldn't be any need to make more. "Is Tsubaki taking you again?"

"No, actually Soul's taking me-"

"MAMA! MAMA!" Marine screamed, running into the living room with wet hair and clothes. "Tait dumped water on me again!" he pointed a blaming finger at his older sister. The poor boy, he had gotten soaked, his boxers and t-shirt were drooping with water.

Maka sent a glare at her daughter, who was trying to hold in her giggles, sighing and rubbing her temples Maka frowned. "Tait, how may times do I have to tell you, you're not supposed to throw water on your brother!"

"Hey! He wasn't getting up, what else was I supposed to do!" she put her hands up in defense while still laughing. "And I didn't dump," she gestured to she soaking Marine, "_that_ much water on him.. I only got his face." Tait crossed her arms and looked at him, and he looked like he was guilty.

"Marine, did you get yourself wet to frame your sister?" Maka imitated her daughter by crossing her arms.

"Yes, Mama..." he murmured guiltily.

Maka could only sigh, "Just go dry off, I don't have time for punishment." Tait pouted and shrugged off into the living room, taking the plate of eggs into the living room.

* * *

**I know, I'm a terrible person. This chapter is wayyyyyy shorter than the last one. But I just felt like I have to update and nothing else was coming into my brain. So I hope this was satisfactory! And if this spikes anyones interest, I have recently created a Deveiantart and would love for you people to look at it. The name is MiniTheft and I have a few Deviations up, nothing fancy but, ya' know. **


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